01-28-2005, 06:10 AM
[cool]Hey fisherfolk, sorry this report is a bit late, but yesterday (Wed) I had the privilege of ice fishing Soldier Creek for my first time this year, since my usual favorite (CCE) has gotten slammed with extra anglers lately (I think more so this year than usual). Anyway, got on the ice at about 8:00. Right after my first drop about 10 seconds later I got a bite, but it was pretty light, and he didn't come back for a 2nd or 3rd time (like they usually do at the berry). About 3 minutes later I got another bite and set the hook immediately and started reeling him in, but he managed to give me a long line release![pirate]
Anyway, the bite got pretty slow until about 12 when they started to bite again. Ended up catching just 6 with the biggest measuring in at 21.5, and that was stretching him out as far as I could. Couldn't get another half or more inch out of him, so down the hole he went. I noticed that unlike my other trips this year to the berry that this time you REALLY DID need to keep the pole in your hands and jigging every 60 seconds or so really helped! I had about 7 other bites that I missed because they were only hitting once then gone. After I started holding the pole, I got more hooksets. The other times this year that I've been, I had more luck keeping the pole still, and setting it down worked best.
Met a nice old timer from Heber named Jerry (forgot the last name) who was really nice and helpful (especially because he had a fishfinder, and I didn't). Without him, I would have stayed a crank or so off the bottom all day and not caught as many fish. We noticed that where we were at 30 feet deep just 20 yards from shore, the fish were for the most part staying at 10 feet off the bottom, which was 6 cranks up for my reel. When I got there, the weather was nice with cloud cover which made for the warmest morning I've fished at the berry in a long time, but around 11 or 12 the "w" started coming up, and really cooled things down[pirate]!
Anyway, it was a fun trip and better than working, and like usual, I learned some more things that will make future trips to that area better. I'm gonna fish that area with my tube and/or my boat while I have some crawdad traps set out right there.
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Anyway, the bite got pretty slow until about 12 when they started to bite again. Ended up catching just 6 with the biggest measuring in at 21.5, and that was stretching him out as far as I could. Couldn't get another half or more inch out of him, so down the hole he went. I noticed that unlike my other trips this year to the berry that this time you REALLY DID need to keep the pole in your hands and jigging every 60 seconds or so really helped! I had about 7 other bites that I missed because they were only hitting once then gone. After I started holding the pole, I got more hooksets. The other times this year that I've been, I had more luck keeping the pole still, and setting it down worked best.
Met a nice old timer from Heber named Jerry (forgot the last name) who was really nice and helpful (especially because he had a fishfinder, and I didn't). Without him, I would have stayed a crank or so off the bottom all day and not caught as many fish. We noticed that where we were at 30 feet deep just 20 yards from shore, the fish were for the most part staying at 10 feet off the bottom, which was 6 cranks up for my reel. When I got there, the weather was nice with cloud cover which made for the warmest morning I've fished at the berry in a long time, but around 11 or 12 the "w" started coming up, and really cooled things down[pirate]!
Anyway, it was a fun trip and better than working, and like usual, I learned some more things that will make future trips to that area better. I'm gonna fish that area with my tube and/or my boat while I have some crawdad traps set out right there.
[signature]
